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Thursday, 31 October 2013

Quick Re-cap and update : Hackbridge is the village adjacent to Beddington Farmlands which will provide the main gateway to the nature reserve and the coreland of the Wandle Valley Regional Park. Planning applications to develop over 3000 new homes are advancing. The developments are 'sustainable developments' designed to compliment the gateway to the coreland of the Wandle Valley Regional Park and to develop the most sustainable suburb in London (and the UK) .

Development latest plans can be viewed at Hackbridge Primary School on Monday 4th November from 11am.

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

The Beddington Farmlands ERF has been given approval by the local authority, the Mayor's Office and the Secretary of State despite the fact that all the local environmental and social groups were unsatisfied with the mitigation measures that were part of the application.
That represents a complete failure of local democracy and leaves only one last hope- a legal challenge on that decision.
Stop the South London Incinerator campaign are planning to lead that challenge and considering our negotiations with Viridor for adequate mitigation has failed we (I) have joined the STI campaign.

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

If I am not mistaken (which I could well be)- the above moths are (left to right) Red-lined Quaker, Beaded Chestnut, Brick and Angle Shades. The quaker and the brick will be new ones for me- taking my Beddington Farmlands pan species list to 990.
10 to hit my target of a grand.

Monday, 28 October 2013

An old Sunday school classic about the merit of being well grounded. Nothing like a good storm to reveal what is truely robust- trees, houses and even a society and it's systems.
With any luck we should have another good storm- a political one to prepare the ground for a post-growth greener and kinder society. Just hope we can do our bit round here to shake things up a bit.
Live in hope anyway :-)

Beech- infected with Meripilus Giganteus- look out for large (massive) fronds in late autumn at the base of the tree . Its a cryptic disease so the canopy looks healthy while the roots are turnign to cork and the tree can fall at any time. If present fell the tree asap.

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Three of these came into the trap last night. (Don't normally pin insects unless I find them dead)

Starlings and London

Reed Bunting- a small influx of 7+ birds

Shoveler- a large influx of ducks over past week or so

I was surprised by the insects in the trap this morning considering it is quite blustery out there. Will be interesting to see if anything comes into the trap tomorrow as we are bracing for a big storm this evening.

Maybe a few birds blown in too but usually dissappointed by storms from the west round here. We usually do better with a blow across the North Sea but who knows? ﻿

Saturday, 26 October 2013

Tree pits- Rudbekia with Snap dragons, strawberry ground cover and there were tomatoes growing up the Rowan

Planting today- Foxgloves in the ground from window nursery

Bit of bread making- bugger all to do with wildlife

Processing the insect catch in the bugry

These westerlies might be interesting if I was back on the Azores but round here I can hardly muster up the energy to leave the flat. Just been sorting out the wildlife garden and catching a few bugs. Harlequin ladybirds have hibernated in the bugry and there's been a few insects in the moth trap during these mild evenings. Lots of caddisflies, a few froghopper nymphs, 'winter' moths, a couple of micros that I simply could not be arsed to try and id and as I'm writing this I can see an Angle Shades in the trap.﻿

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Spent today and yesterday around the village and fields and did a bit of birding with Katt from the 4x4 too. I didn't see much but there's a few birds around including a new Philadephia Vireo today and a few wood warblers around too. More here:

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About Me

This is my birding and nature blog/profile. I am based at Beddington Farmlands which is being developed into a nature reserve within the Wandle Valley Regional Park in South London. I live and work from Beddington Farmlands and operate Little Oak, an environmental management company that looks after green spaces in our local area. Recently due to family commitments I've been living between London and Oxford and spending more time birding in Oxfordshire. I also have my foreign patch on the Azores where I escape to at every available opportunity. Whenever possible I leave my patches for a bit of general birding, exploring in the mobile obs (the campervan) and do a bit of music as a hobby. For more on my projects and background on the contents of the blog click on 'What's it all about?' on my blog.